Final Report

ISYS100MQ
ASSIGNMENT 2: BLOG CREATION
REPORT ON OUR GROUP BLOG:
YUM! YUM! TASTE http://yumyumtaste.bloggerspot.com
Our Group: Georgia Hiatt, Margaret Page, Grace Ge
Practical Class (13) Wednesday 13:00 E6A.110

1. Explain why you chose the blog topic.
The choice of our blog topic – ‘great recipes for lovers of Vegetarian, Chinese, Italian and Sweet dishes’ was initially selected as we shared an interest in food and having a blog about great recipes with each of our favourite food categories was a mutually attractive idea. Yum! Yum! Taste was created in our first group meeting.
Yum! Yum! Taste shortly evolved into more than just a blog about great recipes as we also wanted it to be interesting, rewarding and fun for our followers. The recipes are the main interest factor and relevant to each category including special occasions such as ‘Mother’s Day’ coming up; the great lunch specials, explained below, are the rewarding factor; and the feeding of our ‘hungry fish’, located at the bottom of the blog page, is the fun factor which is incorporated in the final design.
The reward factor: A suggestion was put forward to Mark Parry from the Food & Beverage Campus Experience at Macquarie University that The Globe uni restaurant offer some ‘great lunch specials’ which we would then feature and blog about throughout this assignment. Mark thought it was a great idea and has providing three weeks of great lunch specials offered at The Globe at Macquarie University which we are now featuring as $5.00 meal deal specials that last a week at a time. A free 600ml bottle of water will be included in all of the deals we feature in our blog.
Another reason we selected the great recipes topic for our blog was that food and recipes are visually wonderful and enticing and from that perspective, would make Yum! Yum! Taste a great blog for our followers.

2. What were the largest challenges with a team assignment?
Working in a team is always a challenge, especially when compared to working individually. This is because, working in a team we have to be able to balance the tasks and coordinate meetings and other commitments. There were a few challenges whilst working together to produce the blog. The first challenge was that the blog only has one account and therefore we had to all choose times to post that wouldn’t clash with each other. Secondly, it is the first time working together and we didn’t have much time to get to know and understand each other. I think the most challenging thing was timing. Because blogging was not a habitual activity for us we didn’t have time to get used to posting every day. This was a really challenging task and we did not manage our time very well and we could have possibly posted some more interesting blogs.

3.How did you come up with the final design that you used?
Our blog has a very womanly touch to it. This can be seen through the use of pinks and purples as the main colour themes. We feel that these colours added a warm touch to the blog and were inviting to people who were coming to read our blog. Furthermore, the colours we used allow for attention to be drawn to the blog and the content being posted.
We used the right hand side bar as a place to advertise the University cafe, ‘the globe’. We posted adds for their weekly specials including $5 lunches and pictures of the food they served. We also placed all our major gadgets and categorisation methods on the right hand side of the page as we believed this to be the most obvious place for people to look for them.
All of our blog posts contain pictures of the food we have been discussing in the post so as to give the reader an idea of the kind of food they’d be able to create if they follow our handy hints and tips for cooking.

4. Compare your blog to one with similar content to yourself and critically analyse your blog.
The Food Blog (http://thefoodblog.com.au/) is a blog that also focuses on recipes like our own blog. This blog is very well produced in comparison to ours. The layout is flawless and runs smoothly and nothing is cramped and squeezed together. Our blog, in comparison is much more cluttered and messy, however, it is a good job for first time bloggers. I believe that had we of had the time and skills we could have brought our blog to this level also.
Furthermore the ‘food blog’ has many more links and posts compared to our blog. Our blog contains the bare minimum. However again i do believe that had we of had more time/ managed our time more appropriately we would have been able to incorporate many different themes rather than the bare essentials.
On a whole i do believe that we have made a valiant effort for first time bloggers, we have incorporated all aspects of design that we were expected to and we have made an effort to keep on top of our posting. In the future, if we were to repeat this task we believe to improve we would manage our time more effectively and possibly take a different approach to the way we format our posts and design.
The food blog is a professional blog, so in comparison to ours it is amazing, ours is very amateur, however we have tried our best.

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti is a tried and true favorite in my family! Will it be one in yours too?

Ingredients:
300 gm spaghetti
4 chopped chicken thighs
6 rashers of sliced bacon
1 small bunch of shredded spinach
200gm mushrooms
1tbs of tomato paste
300 ml light cream
parmasen to serve

Instructions:
1) cook spaghetti
2) heat fry pan. cook chicken and bacon for 5-8 minutes
3) add mushrooms, sliced and tomato paste. cook for one minute
4) stir through cream, shimmer 5 minutes
5) stir through spinach, toss until just starting to wilt
6) season to taste. pour over spaghetti and stir to combine.
7) serve with parmasen

This Yummy chicken and ricotta cannelloni is bound to be a crowd pleaser! cook it for the family or cook it to serve at a party! Either way it is garunteed to be loved by all!

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 small onion chopped
2 crushed cloves of garlic
400gm chicken mince
300gm low fat ricotta
pinch of nutmeg
Lasagne, 4 fresh sheets
700gm itallian sauce
1/2 cup grated cheese
salad

Instructions:1) preheat oven to 180 degrees. heat oil in fry pan. cook onion and garlic for 2 minutes until soft.
2) add mince. cook until colour changes, breaking lumps. cool in a bowl. add ricotta and nutmeg. season with salt and pepper. mix well.
3) cut lasagne in half crossways forming 2 small rectangles. place 1/3 cup chicken on one long side of pasta, about 2cm from edge. roll up. repeat for each piece.
4) spread 1/2 sauce over base of baking dish arrange cannelloni in dish. spoon over remaining sauce. sprinkle with cheese. bake for 35 mins until cooked. serve with salad.

Chicken and Corn Soup with Mushrooms

Chicken and Corn Soup is one of my favourite soup, Corns can help to replenishing the skin, reduce winkle and protects beauty. And last week I just learnt that if you put mushrooms in the chicken and corn soup it will make the soup even better. So i decided to share this new recipe. 

Recipe: Chicken and Corn Soup with Mushrooms

Click and View the Original Image

Ingredients:

                  1. Chicken 100g

                  2. Corns ( one can)

                  3. Mushrooms 50g


Steps:

1.   Cut the Chicken and Mushrooms into pieces.
2.   Pour the Corns into the Pot, boil with water.
3.   After 10 mins, Put the Chicken and Mushrooms into the Pot.
4.   Boil another 20 mins, then add some salt depending on your own taste.  

This is a very simple and quick soup, you can make it whenever you want, it will not take a long time and energy. ^^ hope this can help you.

The Team of Egg and Tomato

Egg and Tomato is used everywhere in food recipes, it is the most basic ingredients in yummy food recipes. Different countries have different type of foods, but there are always food with tomato and egg.

I m going to introduce the recipe for Scrambled Egg with Tomato in a Chinese style, we usually call it Tomato with Fried Egg. It is the most basic food in China, and it is very healthy. People usually think Tomato with Fried Egg is very easy to cook, but actually it is quiet challenging if you want to cook for the best taste.

  

                Recipe: Tomato with Fried EGG.

 Original Image Link

Ingredients:

1.       Tomato

2.       Eggs

3.       Salt

4.       Vegetable Oil

Steps:

1.       Cut the Tomatoes into pieces, just like the way how you cut an orange. Knock the Egg open and stir it in a bowl, then you add some salt.

2.       Get a pot and add about 1/3 bowl of oil depending on how much egg you put, the more egg the more oil (Veggie Oil is healthy.)

3.       When the oil is heated, Pour the Eggs into the Pot until it forms solid shapes and the colour turns very light yellow. If you overheat it the egg will turns more yellowy colour and the taste will be hard. Carefully get the Eggs out the pot, and use the left over oil to Fry the Tomatoes.

4.       When the Tomatoes turns to be partially dissolved, you can add the scrambled Eggs in, have a little stir, put some salt again and its done. ( it seems to be very easy, but you may have to try a few times to get it perfect.)

Sweet treats to make Mum's day - 9th MAY

Delicious Italian Amaretti

Give Mum an extra special Mother's Day with these delicious Italian delights

If there's one thing the Italians know, it's how to celebrate and give thanks with good food!  With Mother's Day nearly upon us, why not do the same for your mum, with these traditionally-Italian Amaretti - or almond flavoured biscuits for the uni-linguial.

This Amaretti recipe makes the perfect gift for Mum - it's thoughtful, heart-felt and made especially for her.  Better still, this gift gives Mum something to enjoy throughout the day.

Amaretti originated in Venice over 400 years ago. The Italian word "amaro" means 'bitter' so the literal translation of 'Amaretti' is 'the little ones', which describes how they were originally flavoured with almonds.

Over the year, these tasty Italian treats have been perfected, resulting in this scrumptuous, modern recipe.  With a crisp biscuity exterior and a slightly chewy centre, a few of these indulgent Amaretti makes a gift guaranteed to impress every mum!

Mother's Day isn't about money or extravagent gifts but is a time to thank our mums for everything they do for us and to show them how much we care.

Taking just 15 minutes to prepare, this recipe is perfect for those with a tendency to be 'surprised' by Mother's Day each year and forget gifts for their poor mums. By combining eggs with just five other ingredients, these Amaretti are quick and simple to prepare, and well worth the time in the kitchen. 

Say 'ti amo Mamm' with these delicious Amaretti - yes, that's Italian for 'I love you Mum!'

Amaretti

Serves: 5 or 20 biscuits
Cost per serve: $1.18
Preparation Time: 15 minn
Cooking Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
125 g Ground almonds
1 cup Sugar
2 Egg whites
½ tsp Vanilla
2 drops Almond essence
20 Blanched almonds

Method:
1. Combine ground almonds, sugar, egg whites, vanilla and almond essence in a mixing bowl.
2. Beat mixture with electric whisk on medium speed for about 3 minutes.
3. Let mixture rest for 5 minutes while you prepare baking trays with non stick baking paper and pre heat oven to 180 C.
4. Spoon mixture into a piping bag with a 1 cm plain tube.
5. Pipe mixture onto the baking paper in a circular motion to form a biscuit.
6. Place one blanched almond on top of each biscuit and bake for about 12 - 15 minutes or until tops are lightly brown.
7. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

Yum! Yum!